Rifle or shotgun.



l PATENTED JUNE 18, 1907 B 0 JOHNSON RIFLE 0R SH01`GU1\T APPLIOATION FILED M131. 1907.

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No. 857,468. PATBNTED JUNE 18,1907. E. o.` JOHNSON.

RIFLB'OR sHoTGU-N. APPLICATION FILED' JAN. 31, 1907.

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ERNEST OTTO JOHNSON, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

RIFLE OR SHOTGUN.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1907.

Application filed January 31, 1907. Serial No. 355,120.

T0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST OTTO JOHNSON, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Madison, in the county of Dane and State ol` lVisconsin, have invented a new and useful Rifle or Shotgun, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in rifles or shot-guns, and its object is to provide means whereby a number of cartridges may be carried by the gun in a magazine provided'for the purpose and fed oneby-one to the barrel of the gun, there eX- ploded and retracted and the shell ejected from the gun, the whole operation being under the control of a single slide upon which the trigger is mounted.

To this end the invention consists in providing the gun with a stock suitably cham-v bered to form a magazine to receive a number of cartridges, a channel or conduit leading from the magazine to a point adjacent to the breech of the gun-barrel, and a reciprocating mechanism carrying the trigger and connected` with a reciprocating member traveling in the conduit whereby the cartridges are fed one-by-one into position to be inserted in the gun-barrel, to then seat the cartridge in the gun-barrel and by the pulling of the trigger to cause the cartridge to be eX- plozled, then, on the retraction of the reciprocating member carrying the trigger to eX- tract the exploded shell and eject it by the introduction of the next unexploded shell into alinement with the bore of the gunbarrel.

The invention also comprises means whereby the cartridges are fed forward step-bystep by the reciprocation of the trigger-carrying slide when operated to seat a cartridge in the gun-b arrel.

The invention also comprises various details of construction and combinations of parts which will hereinafter be set forth in the accompanying description forming part of this specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure l is a longitudinal section of a gunstock and a small portion of the barrel with the parts in position ready to seat a cartridge in the gun-barrel; Fig. 2 is a similar view with the parts in positionready for firing the cartridge already seated in the gun-barrel; Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line :oof Figl, looking toward the front of the gun Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the reciprocating slide and the breech-block carried thereby, with certain parts omitted; Fig. 5 is a cross section of the conduit and reciprocating feeding member located therein on the line y-y of Fig. l; Fig. 6 isa similar section on the line .2f-z of Fig. l; Fig. 7 is an end view, partly in section, of a gun-stock constructed in accordance with my invention and showing the mechanism with the cover slide removed; Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the rear end of the gun-stock; Fig. 9 is an end view, partly in section, of a gun-stock provided with a magazine capable of holding two vertical series of cartridges, the cover of the magazine being removed; and Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the cartridge conduit leading from the magazine.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a gun-stock 1 of the usual contour having at its rear end a chamber 2 extending from the shoulder-rest 3 into the stock a sufficient distance to hold cartridges 4 laid lengthwise in said chamber and piled one upon another to form a vertical series, as shown in Fig. 7, or two staggered series, as shown in Fig. 9.

The top of the chamber 2 is formed by a plate 5 and engaging the under side of this plate is a spring 6 of suitable contour to be contained in said chamber. The lower end of the spring presses upon a follower 7 which, in turn, rests upon the upper cartridge of the single series of Fig. 7 or the two series of Fig. 9. The rear end of this chamber 2 is closed by a slide 8 having a dovetailed seat in the stock of the gun at the rear of the chamber 2 and slidable vertically to close the rear end of said chamber. This slide 8 may be of metal, and. fast to it is a corresponding portion of the shoulder-rest 3, which portion is removable from the stock with the slide 8.

Following approximately the contour of the lower edge of the gun-stock is a conduit 9 which may be made of metal and is cylindrical in cross section, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, throughout its entire length when used in a gun-stock having a single-series magazine, as in Fig. 7, but which will be expanded at its rear end, as shown in Fig. l0, when used in connection with a gun-stock having the twoseries magazine shown in Fig. 9. This conduit 9 has formed in or secured to its top so as to project into the interior of the conduit a series of short elastic lips or tongues 10, which may be struck up from the material of the conduit, or, if so desired, may be separately formed and secured thereto, the first IOO tongue `being immediately adjacent to the magazine where the conduit communicates with the latter at its lower end and the others being equidistantly spaced apart the length of a cartridge for a purpose that will hereinafter appear.

The lower edge of the conduit has a longitudinal slot 11 throughout its length, while the rear end of this conduit is extended backward, as shown at 12, under the magazine and is there formed into an under-cut runway 13.

The gun-stock is cut away below the conduit to form a continuation of the runway 13, and at points as at 14, Figs. 1, 2 and 6, the conduit itself is so formed as to constitute a short portion of this runway similar to the structure of the conduit under the magazine.

l/Vithin the runway is a exible band 15 long enough to extend from the rear of the runway 13 under the magazine to a point about a cartridge-length from the front end of the conduit. This flexible band 15, which may be made of thin steel, has formed on it a number of equidistant elastic tongues 16, which may be struck up from the band or separately formed and secured thereto, and these tongues are spaced apart the length of a cartridge and project up through the slot 11 of the conduit into the path of the cartridges, for a purpose that will resently appear. This flexible band 15 is esigned to be reciprocated within the runway 13. l/Vhen the band is in the rearmost position the rearmost tongue 16 will engage behind the lowermost cartridge in the magazine. Vhen the band is moved forward this cartridge will be propelled into the conduit 9 until the flange at the rear o f the cartridge has passed the first tongue 10 projecting into the top of the conduit. If, now, the band be retracted, the tongue 10 will hold the cartridge from moving backward while the rearmost tongue 16 will ride under the next and then lowermost cartridge in the magazine and the second tongue 16 will ride under and back of the cartridge just propelled into the conduit, the latter being held by the tongue l0 behind it. Continuing the reciprocation of the band 15 will feed the cartridges one-by-one into the conduit in a manner that will now be readily understood, the several tongues 10 preventing the retraction of the cartridges engaged by them.

Between the front end of the stock and the gun-barrel 17 is a chamber 18 for the breechblock 19 and trigger mechanism to be described. The walls of this chamber 18 are, as usual, made of metal, and in its construction this chamber is a little more than twice the length of a cartridge and is of sufficient width and depth to contain the trigger mechanism and the devices for introducin the successive cartridges into the lgun-barre and ejecting them. ,In the lower wall of the chamber 1.8 there is a longitudinal slot 20 below which is a slide plate 21 held to the lower face of the chamber 18 by a plate 22 engaging the upper face of the lower wall of the chamber 18 above the slot 20 and connected to the plate 21 by screws or otherwise through the intermediary of a spacing block 23 conlined within the slot 20. The block 23 is of sufficient length to act as a guide for the plate 21 and prevent any lateral displacement thereof but at the same time permit this plate to be moved forward and backward a distance determined by the difference in length of the slot 2O and the block 23. Extending through the plates 21 and 22 and block 23 there is a longitudinal slot 24 within which is mounted a trigger 25 by means of the pivot pin 26 passing through the trigger near its front end, and the trigger is held in normal position by the spring 27.

The plate 21 is connected to the front end of theaband 15 by a stud 28 passing through the said plate 21, block 23 and plate 22 and secured to the said band in front of the foremost tongue 16 thereon. The slide plate 21 is constrained to remain at the foremost limit of its travel by a spring 29 fast at one end to the front wall of the chamber 18 and at the other end to a stud 30 on the front end of the plate 22. rlhe slide 21 also carries,

by means of a curved bracket 31 of suitable dioate'd in Figs. 3 and 4.

The conduit 9 has its forward end located above the reciprocating plate 21 and to one side of the vertical longitudinal plane of the chamber 18, and this conduit is of such length that the said forward end terminates at a point a little more than the length of a cartridge from the front wall of the chamber 1S.

In the path of a cartridge coming from the conduit 9 into the chamber 18 is a leaf-spring 34 having its rear end fast to the lower wall of the chamber 18 back of and below the mouth of the conduit 9 and its front end expanded and curved, as shown at 35, to receive and support the cartridge as it is expelled from the conduit. The front end of lthe cartridge when it meets this spring will depress the same until the cartridge has escaped from the conduit, being forced therefrom by the forward motion of the band 15.

Co-incident with the forward movement of the slide 21 and the expelling of the cartridge from the conduit, the breech-block 19 has also been moved forward until its front end closes the rear end of the bore of the gun-bar- IIO rel, since the slide plate 21 and breech block 19 are permanently connected by means of the bracket 31. lVhen the parts are in this position the cartridge that has been expelled which results in the expelling of the next succeeding cartridge from the conduit 9, will at the same time cause the breech-block 19 to force the first cartridge into the bore of the gun-barrel 17 until seated therein.

Located within the chamber 18 is the firing hammer 36 having its pivot 37 fast to a fixed portion of one of the walls of the chamber 18, and in the path of the lower notched face 3S of this hammer is a pawl 39 hung by a fixed bracket 40 fast on the pivot support 37 of the hammer, while the usual spring 41 controls this pawl. Now, the upper end of this hammer is in the path of the breechblock 19, so that when the latter ismoved rearwardly it engages such upper end of the hammer and moves it to the cocked position and it is there held by engagement with the lower face of the said breech-block. The upper face of the trigger 25 is provided with a lug 42 which, when the slide plate 21 is moved to the forward position and carrying the trigger with it, is in engagement with the lower end of the pawl 39 and therefore holds y the hammer in the cocked position, the upper face 43 of the trigger being so shaped as to pass under the lower end of the said pawl before the breech-block has passed from over the hammer, and thus prevents the hammer from being moved by its spring 44 when its upper end escapes from under the breechblock 19. Now, when the trigger 25 is operated in the usual manner to iire the gun, that is, it is moved around its pivot 26, the lug 42 will engage the awl 39 and move it out of engagement with the notched end of the hammer 36, and the latter will be impelled by the spring 44 to strike the firing pin 32 and so explode the cartridge in the usual manner.

Thile it has not been shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that any aproved means for extracting the cartridge shell from the gun-barrel after the cartridge has been fired and coincident with the retraction of the breech-block may be used. Now, assuming that a cartridge shell is in the extracted position, then the spring 34, acting through the cartridge just projected from the conduit 9, will expel the used cartridge shell through a side opening 45 near the upper end of the chamber 18, as the fresh cartridge is movedinto alineinent with the bore of the gun-barrel.

If desired to manipulate the hammer either to cock or uncock it, it may be reached through the opening 45.

When the larger type of magazine, such as shown in Fig. 9, is provided in the gun stock, the continuation 12 of the conduit 9 is widened to agree with the widened magazine containing the two staggered series of cartridges, but this widened portion is after leaving the magazine narrowed down, as shown in Fig. 10, so as to merge into a single cylindrical conduit. The rearmost tongue 16 and the rearmost end of the band 15 are widened, and the slot 11 is likewise widened to accommodate the widened tongue, and the next tongue 16 toward the front is also wider than the remainder of the tongues 16,A

but not necessarily so wide as the rearmost tongue 16. The purpose of this structure is to enable the rearmost tongue 16 to catch the lowermost cartridge of the respective staggered series and force it along the narrowing conduit until it is ultimately guided. into the cylindrical portion of the conduit and there propelled by the tongues of normal width.

It will be observed that in the operation of the gun the sliding plate 21 is moved backward against the action of the spring 29 which at the same time carries the flexible band rearwardly, so that the tongues 16 will engage behind the next adjacent cartridge to the rear of the cartridge therespective tongues engaged before the plate 21 was moved rearwardly. At the same time the breech-block is retracted and cocks the hammer. Now, on releasing the plate 21 to the action of the spring 29 the latter, having been put under tension by the retraction of the plate 21, will cause the said plate and all the parts carried thereby to move forward with* out attention on the part of the operator, and as soon as this forward motion is completed the gun is ready to be fired. It will thus be seen that the only manipulation necessary is to pull the sliding plate 21 to the rearward and then let it go forward under the action of the spring 29.

In the act of ring the trigger 25, the iinger-hold of which is shown as a ring, is pulled in the direction which would tend to move the slide plate 2l to the rear, so that a continued pull on the trigger will cause the plate to be retracted to its full extent and then on letting go of the trigger the return action caused by the spring will take place. Since but one motion is necessary, and that motion being but a prolongation of the natural action of pulling the trigger, the operation of the gun is one of extreme simplicity and may bemade very rapid so that the gun to all practical purposes is similar in effect to an automatic gun. J

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If it be desired to lock the trigger so that the gun cannot be red, a Wedge-shaped pin 46 may be inserted between the plate 21 and an appropriate shoulder formed on the trig- If desired, the pawl 39 may be mounted on the arm 3l in constant engagement with the trigger and move with the slide block. The hammer may then be uncocked by reaching in through the slot 20, in front of the plate 21., and holding the pawl 39 out of the path of the hammer which latter will then follow up the breech-block as it goes forward.

I claim 1. In a gun, a reciprocating trigger-carrier, a reci rocating breech-block connected and Inova le therewith, means operated by the reciprocating trigger-carrier for feeding a cartridge forward simultaneously with the forward movement of the breech-block, and means for moving the cartridge into alinement with the gun-barrel when the breechblock is retracted.

2. A gun comprising a magazine for cartridges formed in the gun-stock, a conduit for the cartridges from the magazine to the gunbarrel, a reciprocating trigger-carrier, means connected l therewith for producing a progressive step-by-step advancement of the cartridges in the direction of the gun-barrel, and a breech-block connected to the triggercarrier and movable therewith to close the breech of the gun-barrel as the cartridges are moved forward and to move out of the path of the foremost cartridge when the triggercarrier is retracted.

3. In a magazine gun, a conduit leading from the magazine to a point adjacent to the gun-barrel comprising a tube having xed, elastic tongues projecting thereinto and a longitudinal slot opposite said tongues, said conduit being widened or expanded laterally at its receiving end, and a flexible, reciprocating band exterior to said conduit and provided with elastic tongues entering said conduit through the slot therein.

4. In a gun, a magazine, a longitudinally slotted conduit leading therefrom and pro-v vided with elastic tongues projecting into the conduit in the path of the cartridges `and serving as back-stops therefor, a flexible band movable along said conduit adjacent thereto and having elastic tongues projecting into the conduit through the slot therein and into the path of the cartridges, a sliding member carrying the trigger and connected to and operating the flexible band, a breechblock fast on the sliding member, and an elastic cartridge-receiver in alinement with the conduit co-operating with the breechblock to present the cartridges to the bore of the gun-barrel.

5. In a magazine gun, means for feeding cartridges from the magazine to the gun-barrel, a reciprocating member, a trigger carried thereby and connected with and operating the cartridge-feeding mechanism, a breechblock carried by and in fixed relation to said reciprocating member, and a hammer moved into firing position by the backward movement of the reci rocating member by engagement with the breech-block.

6. A magazine gun comprising a stock n alinement with the gun-barrel, a hammer moved into firing position by the breechblock on its backward movement, and a spring against the action of which the triggercarrier is moved rearwardly and under the action of which the trigger-carrier is moved forwardly.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presenceiof two witnesses.

ERNEST OTTO JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK E. HALLEGK, GERTRUDE L. PARK. 

